SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Sacramento State had four players register at least 11 kills, led by middle blockers
Nikola Gamlin and
Skyler Gartin, as the Hornets defeated San Jose State, 3-1 (23-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-22), on Friday afternoon at Spartan Gym.
The Hornet middle tandem of Gamlin and Gartin was on a different level tonight. The duo combined for 23 kills, a .700 hitting percentage (23-2-30), six aces and five blocks. Gamlin, a true freshman, had a season-best 12 kills without an error in 14 swings, good for an .857 hitting percentage - the fifth best mark in Sacramento State program history. Gartin had 11 kills, a .562 hitting percentage and six aces. The six aces are tied for seventh most in program history, and the junior had just two errors in 16 swings.
The middle duo spearheaded a Sacramento State offense that hit a season-best .325, which included 57 kills in 120 attacks. Four Hornets had at least 11 kills, including
Victoria Marthaler's 14 kills and nine digs. Freshman
Mia Molnar added a season-best 11 kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
The Hornets improved to 5-5 overall and earned their first win on an opponent's home floor (1-2). The Spartans dropped to 5-5 overall, and lost for the first time at home (3-1). Sacramento State has won six of the last seven meetings against the Spartans in San Jose.
Today marked the first of two matchups at the Battle of NorCal, which will see the Hornets play Cal tomorrow at 2 p.m. That match will also be played in Spartan Gym.
Sacramento State had a season-best 14 aces this evening - all recorded by just four players. Besides Gartin's six aces,
Amy Ito (4),
Reese Ampi (2) and Marthaler (2) also had multiple aces. Gartin had three straight aces during a 5-0 run early in the second set. Prior to this evening, the Hornets' high for aces was 11, set at home against Nevada in five sets.
Ito finished with career highs in both digs (12) and aces (4), while Ampi posted six digs and a pair of assists to go with her two aces.
Keonahi'ilani Solaita posted six kills and seven digs, and setter
Makenna Wiepert matched her career high (set earlier this season) with 46 assists to go with six digs.
After losing the first set, perhaps the biggest moment of the match came late in the second set with the score tied at 24-24. The Hornets came up big in the clutch, getting kills from Gartin (25-24) and Gamlin (26-24) to tie the match at 1-1. Sacramento State closed the third set on a 7-1 run, and the fourth frame on a 7-4 run.
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